by M T Stone
“Then we have less money. It’s not like we have any debt or anything.”
“I know, I’m just not used to all these big numbers flying around.”
“That’s why I’m giving you a task today.”
“Are you going to tell me now?” I had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that I was flustered by the high prices of everything. He was probably going to make me change the pricing of the items in my line or something stupid. My goal was to give women real value, not charge them as much as the market would possibly bear.
“I’m giving you my black card,” he said as he pulled it from his wallet and handed it to me. “Right now it has a zero balance. We aren’t leaving Milan until you have spent at least $500,000 on it.”
“What? There is no way I can spend $500,000. That’s crazy!”
“Then I guess we will have to stay in Milan,” he said before exiting the room to get dressed.
A few minutes later he came back and handed me a robe. I was still sitting in bed staring at the card. I knew it was some kind of test, but what was he trying to prove?
“Relax, we spent $50,000 yesterday, so just do that ten more times.” He said making it seem like nothing.
“But I don’t really want anything. Definitely not that much stuff!” I protested. “Where am I even going to put all of it?”
“I’m going for a walk,” he said. “When I get back, you better be out shopping or we won’t be leaving.”
“Alright, you asked for it!” I warned, but he didn’t seem the least bit concerned. How the hell am I going to spend that much money?
Chapter 14
Jack
I glanced back as I left our suite and Kate was still sitting on the bed. I knew she didn’t understand why I was doing this to her, but I had my reasons. She had grown up with a father who was always spending money that he didn’t have and it had created an issue for her. Most people have issues and are generally uncomfortable with the flow of money. They either spend too much or make too little, rarely finding a comfortable balance. Others become hoarders who won’t spend a dime, as a result of having parents who went through financial hardships. It was important to me that Kate became comfortable with the flow of money, freely spending it as well as earning it.
Hoping to set a good example for her, I went to a nearby Rossocorsa dealership to take a look at the latest Ferrari’s. Ever since I was a kid, I had always been obsessed with the two Italian supercar brands Ferrari and Lamborghini. It wasn’t at all practical to own a car like this while living in Manhattan, but now that we would be spending less time in the city it would be a fun toy.
“Do you have one of these in black?” I asked the salesperson pointing to a 458 Spyder. It was one of the most beautiful sports cars ever made.
“We have one in the adjacent warehouse. Are you in the market for one of these rare beauties?”
“I am, but I’ve never driven one. So I would like to take one for a test drive.”
After signing the necessary liability release forms, we were out on the street in a brand new Ferrari. I asked him to drive it out of the city for me, but he insisted that it was an easy drive to the freeway. What I really didn’t want to admit is that I had absolutely no experience with paddle shifters and hadn’t driven a vehicle with a clutch since I was a kid. After a rocky start I managed to maneuver the vehicle to the freeway without incident.
“What do you normally drive?” asked the salesman as I cautiously entered the freeway.
“I normally sit in the back of a stretch limo and tell my driver where I want to go,” I laughed. “I’ve spent my whole life in New York City, so driving wasn’t a big part of my life.”
There was no reply from the sales person at first. He nervously watched the road as I merged into traffic. “You do have a proper license though,” he added with a hesitant tone.
“Yes, I have a driver’s license and insurance,” I assured him. I thought it was hilarious that he hadn’t asked that at the time he had me sign the release form.
All the mandatory skills came back to me after the first few minutes of driving. I began downshifting, passing and really enjoying the sound of the engine revving behind me. “How many miles is it around the city?”
“It’s about seventeen, so you may want to turn around at the next exit.”
“No. We’ll take the full lap or maybe two. I’m buying the car,” I replied, downshifting once again just to hear the music of the engine. I was sold the first time I punched the accelerator.
“That will be fine sir. Take as much time as you need.” I’m sure he was mentally calculating how much he was going to make off the $260,000 sale.
Kate
After Jack left, I sat there for a few more minutes just looking at the black card. Why does this intimidate me so much? Most girls can only dream of being able to spend money like this. I felt another sharp jab in my stomach as I reached for my iPad. Alessandria Ferrera was one of my absolute favorite designers and I knew she had a boutique and showroom in Milan. Alessandria had been one of my idols ever since I became interested in the fashion industry. She opened her first boutique when she was only 18 years old and had designed her first collection by age 23. I had always thought that I wanted to follow in her footsteps, but at age 18 I could barely afford to go to school, much less open a boutique anywhere within the city. When I pulled up her boutique on Google Maps it showed that it was literally just around the corner. I sprang out of bed, got ready in twenty minutes flat and was out the door.
Part of me had hoped I would get to meet Alessandria that day, but of course she wasn’t there. Her collections were all on display however and I went through each one with reckless abandon. I started with the black evening gowns and worked my way through all of the gowns finding five that I loved. In total they were less than $10,000, so that was a little discouraging. I absolutely love her taste in casual dresses too, so next I attacked her latest collections with a vengeance.
The clerk was starting to question my sanity, so I handed her the black card telling her, “They are all going on this.”
“Is this real?” she asked as she took the card from my hand.
“Yes, I just got engaged,” I told her as I showed her my ring.
She was much more helpful from that point on. There were forty eight dresses in my size and I purchased thirty seven of them. There were seven cute tops, five awesome pairs of high heels, eight cute skirts and three pairs of pants that I liked. I had basically bought her entire stock of cute things in my sizes.
“That will be $55,438.52,” she said as she rang up the total.
“That’s it?”
“Yes, you got an automatic fifteen percent discount because of the size of your purchase,” she confirmed. Great, we were already going to have a full limo and I still have almost $450,000 left to spend.
“Is there a Tiffany’s nearby?”
“Yes, it’s just up the street on the other side of the Four Seasons,” she replied, pointing back to the hotel.
This is destiny! The Four Seasons was directly in between Tiffany’s and my favorite designer’s boutique. Jack had to have realized all of this and wanted me to get a new wardrobe and some jewelry to wear on our wedding day. I was no longer worried about spending a half million dollars in a single afternoon. I told the clerk to bag everything up as efficiently as possible and we would be back in a couple of hours to pick it all up. I was totally excited as I walked up the street toward Tiffany’s.
In order to cut to the chase I showed the clerk my engagement ring and told him I wanted a necklace and earrings to wear on our wedding day. Even though I was getting a relatively simple dress and wanted to go barefoot, I wasn’t opposed to wearing some killer bling.
He started off above my price range which made me feel good. “That’s a little bulky for me. Do you have a lighter version of that?”
Two five carat diamond earrings and a pear-shaped diamond necklace later, I was headed back to
the hotel. I glanced at my phone and it confirmed that I had successfully spent just over $526,000 in about two and a half hours. Jack’s right, it feels awesome!
Jack
After taking several pictures of my new purchase, I instructed them to have it delivered Aruba. It cost a little extra to get it there by our wedding date, but I could just picture Kate riding shotgun with her veil blowing in the wind. After our wedding I planned on seeing if there was a way to hoist the car onto the yacht so we could take it with us. I would love seeing a Ferrari parked next to the mini-submarine.
“You’re supposed to be out spending money!” I said when I found Kate was sitting in bed watching TV when I got back to the room.
“I’m all done. All we have to do is pick everything up on our way to the airport,” she replied with a glowing smile.
“Really? You spent it all?”
“Plus and extra $26,000.”
“How did you do it so fast?”
“Well as you probably know, Alessandria Ferrera’s boutique is like two minutes from here. So I basically bought everything she had in my size. And Tiffany’s is two minutes the other direction, so I got this awesome necklace and matching earrings to wear on our wedding day.”
“Those are beautiful. Did you have fun?”
“I had a blast. Thank you for doing that.”
“You’re welcome. If you hadn’t found Alessandria’s shop on your own, I was going to take you there before we left. I knew she was your favorite designer and you look so cute in her clothes. I can’t wait to see them on you.”
“That’s good, because you’re going to be seeing them a lot.”
After we filled the entire limo with Kate’s new wardrobe, we headed for the airport. I began to tell her about my afternoon and it turned out that she shared my love for Italian sports cars. I already knew that black was her favorite color, so she was thrilled with my color choice too.
“I think we should stay an extra night, so we can take the Ferrari out for a drive,” she said after a few moments of silence.
“They were going to take it down to Genoa for shipping, but I’m sure they would probably let us drive it there instead.” It was fun to see how excited she was to take it out for a drive. We definitely have many of the same tastes.
After making a quick phone call, our new Ferrari was prepped for customer pickup instead of shipping. Since we were already nearby, we stopped at the airport to transfer the bulk of Kate’s clothes purchase to the jet. We weren’t going to need the limo anymore and there would only be room in the Ferrari for a couple small bags. We were definitely going to have to travel light.
“Captain Chuck and I took your advice and blew the money you gave us,” Tim said as he began unloading the bags from the car.
“Good! Did you guys have a good time?”
“Yeah, but it was too much of a good thing. Chuck spent most of the day yesterday going between the bed and the bathroom,” he laughed.
“Your bodies aren’t used to the party lifestyle anymore. Or maybe you two are just getting old,” I teased him.
“Hey, I held my liquor just fine thank you. We met a couple gorgeous women as well. It was the most fun we’ve had in a long, long time,” he replied with a longing look on his face.
“Well, you guys are in luck,” Kate interjected. “We’re not going home yet!”
“I bought a new car, so we’re going back to take it for a joy ride in the Italian countryside,” I explained. “We’ll let you guys know where we end up and you can just fly there to meet us.”
“What’s going on?” Chuck asked as he came out of the cockpit.
“We get to spend another night with the girls!” Tim said, lighting up like I had never seen before. Good for him.
I reached in my jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope of hundred dollar bills. “You guys go have fun, but make sure you are ready to fly by tomorrow evening. I’ll let you know where to pick us up.”
Kate
I was thrilled by the fact that Jack was willing to completely change his plans on a whim. He had always been a man with a plan where everything was thought out in advance. When I suggested that we stay and take the new car for a road trip, however, it took him only a few seconds to go with it. In my mind I always correlated spontaneity with freedom. I loved the idea of being able to do something at the drop of a hat, without always having to plan everything in advance. This is going to be so much fun!
“I’ll drive us out of the city and then it’s all yours,” Jack said as we pulled out of the dealership.
“You’re actually going to let me drive this thing?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”
“Because I suck at driving that’s why!”
“We both suck at driving. That’s what happens when you spend your whole life in the city. You have a driver’s license, so you are just as qualified to drive this thing as me,” he replied with a smirk. He punched it as he pulled onto the freeway.
“God, I love how that sounds.” I also loved how Jack looked behind the wheel. He normally looked good, but in that car he looked like more like 007.
As we headed south on E35 out of the city, the landscape quickly changed from commercial and industrial buildings to wide open farm land. When I thought about Italy it brought to mind visions of Roman ruins, the waterways of Venice and the amazing fashion district of Milan. As we left the city however, it was like going back in time. It was unlike anything I had seen before, with all the ancient homesteads nestled among the rolling fields.
“How far is Tuscany?” I asked inspired by the beautiful countryside.
“Two and a half or three hours depending on the route you take,” Jack replied as he shifted down revving the engine once again.
“I think we better take the scenic route. You seem to really like driving this thing.”
“I’ll drive as long as you want, so you can just sit back and take it all in.”
“I’ll leave the driving to you for now. You should probably make sure it’s insured before I smash it up.”
Honestly, I was perfectly happy to be riding in the passenger seat of a Ferrari. Between the gorgeous scenery and how sexy Jack looked behind the wheel, I was too distracted to drive anyway. The only thing that could’ve made it better was if it would have been twenty degrees warmer, so we could’ve put the top down. Nevertheless, it was a great day.
Chapter 15
Jack
One of my all-time favorite little wineries was located near Tuscany. Le Marroche was started in the early 90’s by Emesto Cingolani and he created fresh new wines that went against Italian tradition. My first taste of his work was during Fashion Week in Milan in 1998 and it was love at first sip. Paleo was a unique combination of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and quickly became one of my favorite red wines. Unfortunately Emesto died of cancer at age 45, but his wife took over the reins and had continued to build upon his legacy. The fact that I had a degenerative disease and a family history of dying young had endeared me to the couple as well. I thought it would be good for Kate to meet his wife. She’s an incredibly strong, successful woman.
“Would you look up Carmela in my contacts,” I asked Kate. “I want to see if she’s available to give us a tour of her vineyard.”
Kate initiated the call and handed me the phone. Within a few minutes we had plans for evening as well as recommendations for a great place to stay. According to her, the most beautiful villa in the valley was located just minutes from their vineyard. I called and was able to secure it for the next two nights. Then I had Kate send Tim and Chuck a text letting them know that they would have an additional night to spend in Milan if they chose. I forgot how beautiful it is around Tuscany.
The vineyard was set in the most idyllic spot, as if it had sprung to life from a famous Rembrandt painting. Carmela came out to meet us and personally gave us a tour of the grounds before the sun set for the evening. She then ushered us inside where she had several bottles of
wine decanted and waiting for our enjoyment. There were also an assortment of breads, oils and pastas along with accompanying seafood dishes.
“I am entertaining relatives this weekend, so your timing is perfect,” she said as she invited us to join them.
“Thank you Carmela, but are you sure we aren’t intruding?”
“Don’t be foolish, you are one of my best customers,” she replied as she began introducing us to her relatives. “Jack has bought at least five cases of wine from us after every harvest, going all the way back to 1998.”
Her relatives all seemed very friendly, but only two of them knew any English at all. Needless to say, Carmela spent much of the evening saying everything twice because neither Kate nor I were at all fluent in Italian. Everyone was in universally agreement however, that the food and wine were both delicious.
Kate
Carmela choked up as Jack toasted her and congratulated her on the amazing job she had done taking over the winery after her husband’s death ten years earlier. Her twin boys were about my age, so they had to have been really young when he passed away. Both boys were enrolled at the local university and were planning on staying around to help run the vineyard once they graduated. She was only 39 when she lost her husband and I couldn’t help but think about myself being in her shoes. Would I be strong enough to handle everything? How was she able to grow the business four fold while raising two boys on her own? I was grateful that we had made the trip to see her, because she was definitely a wonderful source of inspiration. I hope I never have to travel in her shoes though. I want Jack to live to be 93, just like he claims he will.
“Are you ready to call it an evening?” Jack asked as another bottle of Paleo went dry.
“Yup, but are you sure you can drive?”
“The boys will make sure the two of you get home safely,” Carmela interjected without the slightest hesitation.
“That would probably be best,” Jack agreed. “Can we leave the car here for the night?”